In the race for the French presidency, voters can choose between current candidate Emmanuel Macron and right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen in two weeks.
8:28 am, April 11, 2022
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Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualified as expected for the second round in the first round of voting on Sunday, according to initial predictions. ©AP
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen qualified for the second round of the election on Sunday, as expected, according to initial predictions.
According to the calculations of the Elabe Institute, released by the broadcaster BFM TV, Macron received in the first round 28.5 percentclosely followed by Le Pen with 24.2 percent.
Other research institutes have published similar projections. Thus, the left-wing candidate managed to Jean-Luc Melenchon around 20 percent, the other applicants followed him at a considerable distance. The extremist right-wing candidate, who was sometimes on par with Le Pen Eric Zemmour was therefore only around 7 percent.
Defeat for popular parties
The election meant a crushing defeat for the old traditional parties in France, the Socialists and the Conservatives. Conservative middle-class Republicans (LR) with one candidate Valerie Pécresse came up with just about 5 percent of votes. The Socialists (PS), who had been president from 2012 to 2017 with François Hollande, have fallen with their candidate, the mayor of Paris. Anne Hidalgoin the round 2 percent far away.
Election recommendation for Macron
Immediately after the election ended, Republican, Socialist, Green (Yannick Jadot) and Communist (Fabien Roussel) candidates made a recommendation for Macron. If right-wing populist Le Pen comes to power, there will be “disastrous consequences for the country and for future generations,” Pécresse said Sunday night in Paris.
Left-wing politician Mélenchon did not directly speak out for Macron, but made a firm request not to vote for Le Pen: “You must not vote for Le Pen”, he emphasized on Sunday night.
Right-wing extremist Zemmour’s camp, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of Le Pen. “Emmanuel Macron is the main adversary. He is the president of mass immigration, the president of insecurity, the president of deindustrialization,” said his supporter Marion Maréchal. She is Le Pen’s niece and former National Front politician, predecessor of Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (National Assembly, RN).
Who wins the second round?
Both Macron and Le Pen had already participated in the second round of the election in 2017, which the centrist liberal clearly won at the time. But this time it might be tighter. Many left-wing voters said in polls that, unlike in 2017, they would not vote for Macron in the second round just to stop right-wing politician Le Pen from moving into the Élysée Palace. Macron must now convince those voters to change their minds and vote for him in the second round on April 24.